Doge Giovanni of Venice
Doge Giovanni of Venice (748-) was the Doge of Venice from 771, succeeding Doge Encagilio of Venice. Giovanni was from the House of Galbaio and was the son of Doge Maurizio of Venice; he gained power in 771 after ordering the deaths of two consecutive doges. During his reign, Giovanni was zealous, proud, and expansionist, and under his rule Venice became an empire along the Adriatic Sea. Biography Early Life Giovanni was born in 748 to Maurizio Galbaio and an unknown mother; he was the older brother of Leone Galbaio. Giovanni was the heir to the House of Galbaio as Maurizio's eldest son, and his family became powerful when his father was elected as Doge of the Republic of Venice in 764. Giovanni married Aikaterine Amalfinos on 12 January 769 as a part of an alliance with the rival Republic of Amalfi, led by Doge Leon of Amalfi. Taking Power ]]On 3 July 770, his father died after a period of illness, and Giovanni became the new patrician. Although it is accepted that his father died of natural causes, Giovanni was suspicious of the other families, especially the new doge, the blind Doge Teodato of Venice. He plotted against the doge, planning to reclaim power for the Galbaio family. He recruited Comita, Candida, Anna Orsoleo, Cardinal Fosco of Rialto, Mayor Ezzolino of Jesolo, Michelangelo, Anastasia Orsoleo, and Mayor Adalberto of Lido into his plot to assassinate Teodato. Anastasia slipped wine into Teodato's drink on 8 November 770, but Teodato did not drink it, and he found out about the Galbaio family's complicity. Meanwhile, on 17 November he tried to become the marshal by making friends with the current marshal, ironically Teodato's son Pietro Orsoleo. On 20 November Anna Orsoleo arranged for bowmen to strike at Teodato at the right moment, and on 18 December Teodato was killed. On 7 December Giovanni had become friends with Pietro, but their friendship was strained by the killing. ]]Doge Encagilio of Venice became the new doge after the assassination of Teodato, and Encagilio was generous to the Galbaio family, although Giovanni knew that he had to die if he wanted to fulfill his destiny to become the next doge. Encagilio appointed Giovanni as a commander of Venice, but on 24 May 771 Mayor Ezzolino arranged for him to be killed by archers, and on 21 June he met the same fate as Teodato. Giovanni was now the man with the most respect, and he was elected as doge. Giovanni had good military and stewardship skills, so he made a good leader for the republic. On 10 October 771 he decided to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, and on 20 October Leone was appointed as his regent while he was away. On 16 November he saw a shining star that was more or less pointing towards Rome, which he saw as a sign from god. On 28 November, he finally arrived in Rome, and he sought to visit the basilicas of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, as well as other early churches and places connected to the martyrs. On 3 December he swore that he would do God's work, believing that everything before in his life was preparing him for the voyage, and he became zealous. On 13 December 771 he returned home from his pilgrimage, increasing his piety. ]]On 7 January 772 Giovanni began construction of a trade post in Aquileia, the territory of Duke Peter of Friuli and the Kingdom of Lombardy. Giovanni's piety increased when he interpreted bleeding on his hands and feet and pains in his side upon waking up as the "stigmata" (Jesus' wounds) as meaning that he was blessed rather than being disturbed. On 9 April 773, he found out that Anastasia Orsoleo was plotting to kill his brother Leone, so he decided to imprison her. She fled into exile at the court of Count Euphemio of Arborea, and on 22 April Leone died under suspicious circumstances. Giovanni decided to punish those responsible when he found out who killed his brother. ]]On 5 January 774 Giovanni decided to begin Venice's territorial expansion by seizing the city of Trieste in Istria from the Lombards, hiring Captain Leofwine of White Company and several other mercenary commanders to aid him in his conquest. By 775 he was victorious, and he decided to seize the rest of Istria later that year. He fought against King Adelchis of Lombardy and his ally King Grifo II of Bavaria to take Istria, and on 17 September 776 he planned a political alliance by betrothing his son Ambrogio Galbaio to Lantsuinda Adalberts, the daughter of Prince-Bishop Odacre of Valais. Giovanni began an affair with his former sister-in-law Alessandra Galbaio in 777 after he made a move on her in her chambers, and on 15 October 777 Antonella was the product of their relationship. Having a spitting image of her father, she was obviously his daughter, so Giovanni acknowledged her and sanctioned her as his daughter, albeit an illegitimate one. In another family affair for Giovanni, his father-in-law Doge Leon of Amalfi died in 780 and was succeeded by his stepmother's father Doge Martino of Amalfi. ]]On 20 July 780, a trade galley belonging to the Galbaio shipping empire was destroyed in a storm, costing the family 50 pieces of gold. That same year, the Kingdom of Bavaria declared war on Giovanni to press a de jure claim on Istria. On 18 November 781 King Adelchis was captured in battle and was executed on 1 December by Giovanni, who killed his first nemesis. In 783 his eldest son Maurizio Galbaio came of age. Giovanni appointed him as his designated heir, and that same year he made peace with Tassilo III of Bavaria. On 1 April 783 he welcomed a group of hedge knights to Venice through his chancellor Alarico, and he also arranged for his son Leone Galbaio the Younger to marry Adosinda d'Asturias. On 11 April he cared for one of the vagabond hedge knights that was injured in a minor tournament, paying for some medication before sending them on their way. ]]On 11 October 784 Patrician Obelerio of Antenoreo hosted a great ball in his family palace and invited every patrician family in the republic except for Doge Giovanni. Giovanni decided to pretend that there was some kind of mistake, gracing the ball with his presence invited or not. Giovanni entered the palace with his entourage without attracting the attention of the guards, but the laughter and joy died down as Obelerio called out Giovanni's name. He asked for his invitation, and when none was found, the guards threw him down the stairs. As Giovanni lay with his back on the dirt, Obelerio grinned down on him, starting a great vendetta. Giovanni gained the support of Patrician Agnello of Participazio, Flora Galbaio, and a few others in a plot to kill Obelerio. In 786, he seized Aquileia from Lombard rebels, and on 31 May he heard good news when he found out that Obelerio Antenoreo was going to war with Pietro Orsoleo over trade routes. ]]Giovanni married off his children to their betrothed when they came of age in the late 780s, and on 3 July 788 he began a lobbying campaign against the Antenoreo family. He tarnished their name and standing, using insidious ways to hurt them by use of his current office. This regained prestige lost at the great ball and destroyed the Antenoreo family reputation, and Giovanni won a small victory. Giovanni held a summer fair in 789, inviting the "Jumping Jews of Jerusalem" and a monkey trainer for entertainment. On 15 September 791 he hosted a greater ball than the Antenoreo one, giving his guards explicit orders not to let anyone from their bloodline enter the ball. In one corner of the ballroom, a bearded man compared the ball to the Antenoreo one, but Giovanni recognized something in his voice and ripped the thick beard from the man's face, recognizing him as Obelerio. An astonished Obelerio pushed Giovanni and several guests aside as he fled, ruining Obelerio's prestige and increasing Giovanni's. In March 793, he broke his daughter Anastasia Galbaio's betrothal to Almish Khazbek due to his loss of a landed title and instead had her be betrothed to Duke Sicleard of Normandy. On 9 August 794 Giovanni declared a holy war for Croatia against High Chief Borna of Croatia, hoping to expand Venice into an Adriatic Sea empire. He seized control by 15 January 795, winning more lands, and Venice's control stretched along the Adriatic. On 25 February he began training in the arts of becoming a tailor. In June of that year, Giovanni fought against the High Chiefdom of Slavonia, gaining more lands along the Adriatic. In 796 he declared war on King Radoslav of Serbia in a holy war for Bosnia, fighting the Kingdom of Serbia and the High Chiefdom of Chrobatia for territory. His victory in 797 led to Venice becoming an even-larger land. In 798 he defeated Chief Vojnomir of Varazdin and executed him, and forced his son Chief Vid of Varazdin to surrender. He divided the lands between his vassals once more, expanding his empire. On 18 October 799 he declared war on Radoslav again, and by 16 May 800 Duklja was in his hands. Gallery Giovanni Galbaio.png|Giovanni as the heir of the Galbaio family Europe 795.png|Europe in 795 under his rule Europe 800.png|Europe in 800 under his rule Europe 800 2.png|Europe at the end of 800 Category:748 births Category:Venetian doges Category:Venetians Category:Doges Category:Italians Category:Catholics Category:Galbaio Category:Patricians